TOWN OF WEST BEND - A secluded, 2.5-mile hiking trail that connects busy Paradise Drive to Ridge Run County Park is permanently protected because of two acquisitions by conservation foundations.

Both acquisitions will be celebrated with a guide hike, brief ceremony and lunch Saturday.

The trail segment starts at a 37-acre parcel west of 18th Avenue and north of Paradise Drive recently purchased by the Cedar Lakes Conservation Foun-dation. The parcel, known at the Lockman property, contains the meandering Ice Age Trail and a small, gravel parking lot.

To the north, the trail connects with 265-acre Camp Silverbrook, owned by the Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast. The Ice Age Park & Trail Foundation purchased an easement on 65 acres of the camp in 2006, securing permanent access to the trail. The easement, which allows access to just more than 1.5 miles of trailbed on the camp, was purchased for $760,000, much of which was used to convert the Hawthorne Hills camp building into the Jo Ann Mann Lodge. Should the Girl Scouts ever decide to sell the property it has owned since 1957, the Depart-ment of Natural Resources also holds a right of first refusal to buy it.

Will the acquisitions make a noticeable difference to those who frequent the trail for hiking, snowshoeing and skiing?

No, officials say, and that’s exactly the purpose.

Prior to the acquisitions, the Ice Age Trail’s passage across the Lockman property and Camp Silverbrook was governed by informal, handshake agreements since the mid-1970s, said Dennis Block, Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast vice president. While that arrangement worked well, it offered no permanency in an area where development occurs with relative speed.

"When you are out (on that trail), you have no idea that you’re only minutes from a city," Block said.

So while the acquisitions won’t result in new trails or unrestricted access to the properties, they will ensure the permanence of the trail segment.

For dedicated trail volunteer Bob Stodola, segment leader for Ice Age Trail from Paradise Drive to Ridge Run, that’s plenty to celebrate.

"This preserves and makes available a beautiful trail where people can come and enjoy nature," Stodola said.

It also ensures access to the trail for the thousands of Girl Scouts who visit the camp, Block said.

"To have a resource like this in our backyard is unbelievable," he said. "We can put kids right onto a national scenic trail from the camp."

So while hikers can take in fall colors and serene beauty, Girl Scouts from Washington, Ozaukee, Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine and Kenosha counties have easy access to an outdoor wonderland and learning zone.

"Some of the kids have never experienced nature like this," Block said. "You can see how excited they get when they discover something new."

For lifelong nature enthusiast Stodola, that’s payoff enough.

"When someone walks by and says that they’re enjoying the beautiful trail, that’s payment enough," he said.